Improvement in tobacco-caddies



L- FITZHUGH.

TQBAccO c S.

Patented May 8,1877.

lllllllllllil IN V OR I Ice/[1.3g 5, A ugh ATTO YS NoMIQQ HGIB.

WWITNESSZZ UNITED S'IATES Parana "OFFICE.

LEE M. FITZHUGH, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

IMPROVEMENT IN TOBACCO-CADDIES.

Specification formlng part of Letters Patent No. 190,568, dated May 8, 1877 application filed November 16, 1876. p K

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEE M. FITZHUGH, of Indianapolis, in the county of Marion, and in the State of Indiana, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Tobacco-Caddies; and do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the lettersof reference marked thereon, making a part of this specification.

The nature of my invention consists'in the I construction and arrangement of a tobacco butt, with top B. The front of the caddy A is, at the top, provided with a door, 0, connected to said front by means of a'springhinge, D, at its lower edge, so that the door will open downward. This door, as well as the top B, is secured by means of screws, so as to be easily loosened when it is desired to open the caddy for removing any tobacco.

In using this caddy' or butt the top B is loosened, and whenever it is desired to take out any tobacco the door is simply pressed down, and as soon as the required quantity is taken out the door closes automatically, the spring-hinge D keeping the same closed.

When the tobacco gets below the lower edge of the door the caddy may be turned upside down, and the tobacco moved to the top, when it can be held up by simply passing a nail or screw through either one of the sides, of the caddy.

Ordinarily the entire front of the caddy is knocked off, exposing the tobacco at all times to the air.

By my invention all dampness is excluded, it prevents the swelling of the tobacco, and in a. great measure its molding, also saves it from drying out in a warm room. It facilitates the opening of the package; the package is not mutilated, and the label on the front is always preserved.

I do not claim a tobacco-box having a sliding top, capable of being moved up and down, and the front of the box composed of two or more sections hinged together. Nor do I wish to be understood as claiming, broadly, a spring-hinge, as I am aware such is not new.

One of the main objects of my invention is to keep the tobacco fromdrying, and also to exclude the dampness, so that the tobacco will be preserved in perfect condition until the box is'empty. By connecting the door 0 to the stationary front of the box by the spring-hinge D, the door will immediately close itself, and stay closed after a portion of the tobacco is taken out, which would not be the case when the front is made in sections and connected by ordinary hinges.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In combination with the tobacco-caddy A,

' provided with the top follower B, as described,

the front O, hinged to the body by the exterior spring-hinge D, for the purpose of keeping the door closed, as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 27th day of October, 1876.

LEE M. FITZHUGH.

- Witnesses:

WILLIAM L.BRAMHALL,- J. M. MASON. 

